Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) Receives $88.13 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Xcel Energy Inc. (NASDAQ:XEL) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $88.60.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on XEL. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Xcel Energy from $80.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 15th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of Xcel Energy from $85.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Argus upgraded Xcel Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Xcel Energy in a research report on Friday, February 6th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association raised its position in Xcel Energy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 12,683 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Xcel Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 28,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management boosted its position in shares of Xcel Energy by 9.1% during the third quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 1,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Finally, Hills Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Xcel Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Hills Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. 78.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Xcel Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:XEL opened at $81.55 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $75.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.73. Xcel Energy has a 52 week low of $65.21 and a 52 week high of $83.01. The stock has a market cap of $48.24 billion, a PE ratio of 23.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51.

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.96 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.96. The company had revenue of $3.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. Xcel Energy had a net margin of 13.76% and a return on equity of 10.83%. Xcel Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.81 earnings per share. Xcel Energy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.040-4.160 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Xcel Energy will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Xcel Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 20th. Investors of record on Monday, December 29th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 29th. Xcel Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.67%.

About Xcel Energy

Xcel Energy (NASDAQ: XEL) is a Minneapolis-based, publicly traded utility holding company that develops, owns and operates regulated electricity and natural gas delivery systems. The company’s core activities include generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, the delivery of natural gas to customers, and related customer service operations. Xcel provides a mix of utility services to residential, commercial and industrial customers and participates in wholesale energy markets where appropriate.

Its generation portfolio combines nuclear, natural gas, coal and a growing share of renewable resources such as wind and solar.